What to expect from your Multi-Day Mountain Bike Camping Tour
Start to Finish Service
Our goal at Rim Tours is for you to leave our company feeling like you’ve had the trip of a lifetime and that you have been cared for by our competent and professional staff, from your first contact with the office to a handshake or hug from your guides at the end of the trip. We take pride in offering the very best backcountry mountain bike tours anywhere and are always looking for ways to improve on what we do. Many of our clients we have known and ridden with for over 20 years and they are part of our extended Rim Tours Family.
A Typical Day on a Backcountry Tour
Our guides rise before the sun and the first order of business is to get the coffee going in our custom made 1 ½ gallon French press! A hot delicious breakfast follows, then breaking down camp and preparing for the riding ahead. Guides will brief you on the day’s itinerary and route, and one guide will head out on the ride with you, while the other will drive support either on the route if possible, or driving around to meet at lunch or at camp. Larger groups on our singletrack tours may have 3 guides along, with 2 guides riding with the group.
A guide pours a guest a mug of coffee from Rim's unique 1.5 gal stainless steel french press.
Guests come back for second servings at Rim's amazing hot breakfast table. There's always plenty at every meal.
After breaking down camp, a guide shows guests the day's route on a map prior to setting out on the trail.
Along the way your guides will point out interesting sights and lead you on short side hikes to other fascinating places. Our staff’s knowledge of the wild places you are traveling through will amaze and delight. You’ll soon learn that around each bend in the trail, up most every side canyon or just setting out on foot from camp explores a whole other world of wonder and we urge you to take a look!
Lunch is usually served trailside from the support truck though sometimes packed to carry and there are plenty of snack breaks to keep our energy levels high throughout the day.
Mid to late afternoon we are back in camp, setting up our comfortable tents and cleaning up with hot washcloths or solar showers. Your guides will serve yummy appetizers and then a healthy and hearty dinner and plenty of it. Evenings are often shared around a campfire (if permitted) or star gazing learning about the constellations and hoping to see shooting stars and satellites. Stories abound and we would love you to share your own.
Spectacular Riding
We have searched out our tour routes with one main objective: Is the riding worth the trip? In each case you can be assured the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Each tour is rated to a degree of challenge according to factors including technical challenge, elevation and distance, and we will discuss your experience with you to make sure you are on an appropriate trip for your ability. If you have any questions about your ability, or the difficulty of one of our tours please call our office!
Each of our multi-day tours also have elevation profiles on them (in the info box called Multi-day Tour Overview, click on the tab "Location Info.")
Amazing Scenery
There is a reason many of our destinations are inside or just beyond the borders of National Parks, Monuments and Recreation Areas. Canyonlands National Park is unique in the backcountry access for bikes and the riding between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks is incredible. We seek unique riding experiences that are combined with natural beauty to create an experience that goes far beyond what happens on your bike.
Support Vehicle
Because we have a support vehicle (either a large 4wd truck or van & trailer), we can bring whatever you need to be comfortable out in the wild. There is room for 1-2 passengers in our support trucks for emergencies or other situations. Please note that our charging capability for phones and other devices is limited.
Rim's fleet of specially-modified 4-wheel-drive support trucks can carry it all, but can also get into the most spectacular remote wilderness settings.
Some of our camping-based tours allow for the use of a van that tows a specially-outfitted cargo trailer to haul everything we need for a very comfortable backcountry experience.
Deluxe Camping
Our camp kits have inflatable mattresses, clean and cozy sleeping bags and comfortable quality tents. You are welcome to bring your own gear and we’ll take good care of it during transport. We provide camp chairs, dry bags for your gear, hot washcloths at the end of a long day on your bike and plenty of individual service put us in a category above the rest.
Our camp kits include 2-person tents (if you are not sharing a tent,) and 3-person tents for those who are sharing with a partner. The kits also include a sleeping bag and sleeping pad. Items can also be rented separately.
Our foot-pump-operated hand wash station makes it surprisingly easy to keep everyone's hands clean and our kitchen sanitary.
Weather
Please make sure to check the weather prior to departure, each multi-day page has a link to the closest weather station.
Packing
To ensure your comfort please do your best to follow our recommended pack-list. Most of our tours are in high country locations with different weather considerations from where you may be coming from.
Bring gear for all kinds of weather. No matter what the forecast says, it's best to be prepared. There's no need to scrimp. The support vehicle carries a lot, and our aim is to keep you smiling, no matter the weather!
Our support vehicle carries all the equipment and supplies necessary to keep our rental bikes in top riding condition, including a portable bike stand. Guides double as bike mechanics and can usually fix just about any problem that arises.
Top Quality Bikes
We love to ride and we appreciate top quality equipment and think you will too! Our relationship with Santa Cruz Bicycles goes back for years and each year we receive a new fleet of Santa Cruz full suspension bikes for our season which are expertly maintained throughout the year and available for sale at the end of our season.
5 Star Cuisine
The comments we get back from guests raving about the food are always nice to hear. We love to eat well and an expertly prepared meal in a fantastic backcountry setting can’t be beat! The fresh ingredients and plenty of love in the preparation will have you wishing you could ride and eat with us for a much longer stay. We can honor dietary restrictions as long as we know ahead of time, and if you have any specifics about your diet please let us know on your registration form or by email.
Breakfast is served hot, made from fresh , healthful ingredients, with a different main dish each morning.
Depending on your itinerary, lunch will either be served trail-side from a table spread with delicious, fresh ingredients, or, following breakfast, riders will prepare their own lunch from ingredients set out by the guides. These pack lunches are carried in each rider's day-pack.
Dinner is the gastronomical highlight of our tours. Our guides are skilled backcountry chefs who work from Rim Tour's menu of unique meal plans.
Personal Touch
Rim Tours is a small company and our staff is family, not just to us but to our clients and we foster a long term, multi-year relationship with many of our guests. We hope you will become part of the Rim Tours family!
